Melody of A New Girl
by katiedyd04
Summary: The young and beautiful girl Sakura Haruno starts high school at Konoha High and seems to be stealing the attention of two very attractive boys. SasuXSaku NaruXSaku Some shikaXino ok so saskue is kinda OC but in a good way XD Please review n dont flame
1. first day and taken by surprise

As she ran a silver plated brush through her long pink hair, Sakura Haruno sighed in anticipation for her first day of high school

As she ran a silver plated brush through her long pink hair, Sakura Haruno sighed in anticipation for her first day of high school. The date on the calendar was September 2nd 2008 and today she was going to start her career as a student all over again at Konoha High School.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this…" she said to her reflection. Her makeup was done perfectly but it couldn't hide her worry. She paced a little bit and decided to get her clothes on. After throwing many outfits across her room she decided what to wear. She threw on a simple pair of jeans and her favorite pink tank top. Over that she put on a short sleeve cropped white jacket.

"Sakura honey its time for school! You gotta leave!" her mom called up to her.

Sakura's breathing quickened as she grabbed her large purse, a pink ribbon, and slipped on her sneakers. Skipping breakfast she ran out the door with a kiss from her mom.

"Bye mom! Love you!"

"Good luck sweetie. Just be yourself!"

After about a block of jogging she slowed down to a walk and pulled the pink ribbon out of her pocket. She tied it around her wrist and fastened it with a delicate bow.

"Perfect..." she marveled as she held her hand up in the air. Without a warning she ran smack into something...or someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going brat!" The person yelled. Sakura looked up rubbing her head and saw a beautiful blonde girl looming over her. She stood up and brushed off her pants.

"Oh um I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going..."

"Yeah. You weren't. But that's whatever. Who ARE you?" The girl said questionably.

"I'm Sakura Haruno! Nice to meet you" she stated extending a hand. The girl stared at it for a moment and then gave it one hard shake.

"Yeah. The name's Ino…Ino Yamanaka. You going to Konoha?" Sakura nodded.

Ino continued, "Okay, well me too. I guess we'll go together."

"Mmkay" Sakura answered.

Sakura and Ino walked and talked until they got to the high school in all its giant glory. Sakura was happy that she made a friend but that didn't help her nerves. Ino seemed to be pretty popular as they walked the halls. Sakura just tailed along as Ino received many hello's from girls and lots of looks from the boys. She felt a little inferior but was glad she wasn't totally alone.

Ino turned towards Sakura and asked "Hey, lemme see your schedule." She grabbed it out of sakura's hands and began examining it. "Okay we have 3rd and 7th period together. And you're homeroom is English. So the classroom is…that way." She pointed down a long stretching hallway. A loud bell rang and everyone in the hallways started rushing in different directions. Sakura started to get pulled along in the crowd as Ino shouted, "I'll meet you here when it's time for lunch!" and she turned and walked the other way. Sakura was completely overwhelmed. How was she going to survive this day?

When she finally got to the English room she flitted in quickly and took a seat in the near back and began reading her book. Most of the other kids weren't in the room yet. Time went by the teacher walked in and the rest of the seats were filled. Sakura stuffed her book into her purse and began to listen.

"Okay everyone I am your English teacher Iruka Sensei. You will call me nothing but that. I expect nothing but the ut-most respect from every single on of you!" the tall lanky man barked.

_Yikes _thought Sakura. She lost interest quickly and began absent mindly scanning the room. She sighed and rested her arm on her desk. She accidently knocked off her pen and bent down to pick it up. A long fingered hand picked up her pen before her. She followed the hand and saw that she was looking at a guy. Not just any guy, a gorgeous guy. He had choppy black hair, pale skin, deep brown eyes, and a strong jaw line. A lot like a rock star.

"Here." He mumbled as her handed her the pen and turned back to face the front of the room. Sakura was absolutely shocked. She hadn't realized it until just then that she was blushing very deeply.

"Oh. Uh thanks" she whispered. She held her hand to her face and it was burning hot. Had he noticed that she was so flustered? The idea made her shudder with embarrassment. So Sakura sat through the rest of class only vaguely aware of what was going on, not daring to sneak another peek at this mystery guy who sat only a foot away from her.


	2. lunchtime of info

After barely making it through the day, Sakura aimlessly stalked down the hallway to meet Ino

After barely making it through the day, Sakura aimlessly stalked down the hallway to meet Ino. She stared at her sneakers only vaguely aware of what was going on when she had an unfortunate de ja vu. She just happened to run smack dab into another person!

"Eep!" she squealed as she bounced on her butt. She quickly began gathering her things that were scattered on the floor.

"Oh wow! I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you! Let me help you there. I'm Naruto by the way..." The strange guy just kept on jabbering on and on. Sakura tuned out a little as she picked up her things. She hadn't really paid attention to what he looked like until he handed her her purse and was STILL talking.

"Thanks." She said, "I'm Sakura." This boy, although slightly annoying, was rather good-looking as well. He had blonde hair, large excited blue eyes, and a little muscle tone.

"Geez...this seems to be happening a lot lately" Sakura muttled to herself. This Naruto guy, stared at her curiously as she took her purse back.

"What?" she questioned.

"Uh Nothing!!" the blonde boy sputtered. "Well, see you around!" and with that he was gone. Sakura felt a little dumb struck by his sudden disappearance as she walked towards the spot that Ino had promised to meet her at. Sakura's eyes searched the hall for any sign of her new friend and she found her leaned up against the lockers talking to brown-haired boy with a pony tail.

"Shikamaruuu! You didn't say anything about how I look! After all, we haven't seen each other aaaaall summer!" Ino whaled!

"Ugh…fine. You look...uh…great as usual Ino" the guy shrugged. The blonde beauty flashed huge grin and turned to say hello to Sakura.

"Hey whassup?" Ino asked.

"I dunno. Lots of strange people at this school." she turned towards the guy, "And who's this?"

As the clearly uninterested guy picked at his ear he answered, "Shikamaru..."

"Oh uh, well nice to meet you..." Sakura said a little uneasy. Ino tugged at Sakura and Shikamaru's arms and led them to the cafeteria where students were hustling to get their meals. Sakura gave the lunch room a quick once over but something caught her eye. At a corner table Sakura saw the rock star hottie from English class and that Naruto guy sitting next to each other bickering. The dark haired guy had an annoyed but calm look on his face while Naruto was just inches from his face wearing a goofy grin. Seeing that rockstar took Sakura so much by surprise that she gasped and stumbled a lil trying to regain her balance.

She found her place sitting next to Ino only a few tables over from the handsome boys whom she had met earlier. She was so out of it that she hadn't noticed that sitting at the table were 3 other girls besides her and Ino. She felt rude so she introduced herself and discovered that the girl with long black hair and pale eyes was Hinata, the beautiful girl with two brunette buns was called Ten-Ten, and the girl with four spikey blonde pigtails was Temari. All of them were drop-dead gorgeous and Sakura felt a little inferior sitting with them

It was bugging her. Sakura just HAD to know so she leaned over and asked the whole table full of girls, "Um guys, who are THEY?" she pointed to the table that had captivated her attention. All of the girls except Hinata got a huge smile on their faces. It was apparent that the black haired girl was much shyer than the rest.

"Hmm..where to start?" pondered Temari.

"Ok we saw you walk in with Shika so you already know him. The one with the long hair and pale eyes it Neji. He's Hinata's cousin" Ten-Ten proclaimed. Hinata nodded.

"Okay…the tubby one is Chouji. He's a sweetheart just don't call him fat or you'll wish you hadn't" Ino pointed out.

"The emo-looking one with the red hair and eyeliner is Gaara. He's never really in a good mood so you might want to avoid him." Ten-Ten added.

Temari continued, "Ha! And the goofy-looking one with the thick eye brows and the bowl-cut is Rock Lee."

"Then t-there's N-naruto." Stammered Hinata. Sakura was surprised to even hear this girl's soft voice.

"Yeah. That's the blonde one. He's a total class clown but really he has a good heart. Although he is EXTREMELY annoying!" All the girls nodded at Ino's remark. "Last but definitely not least there's…"

"Saskue!" the table crooned in unison.

"He's totally hott and all the girls love him-"

"He's amazing at sports and is so smart-"

"He can be really kind too and he's a favorite among the teachers too-"

"I-I like his h-hair…"

Suddenly the whole table had erupted in a debate about what were Saskue's best features. _Saskue huh. He's so…so collected and cool_ Sakura thought to herself. Her eyes traveled over ever single one of the boys faces trying to catalogue and remember their names. She realized that subconsciously her eyes at lingered on Saskues all but perfect face. Her jaw slacked and she froze.

HE was staring back at her! _Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! Whatd I do?!_ She screamed in her head. Saskue gave her a quick nod and a small smile. She blushed a deep red and flashed a quick small smile then buried her head in her palm. Was she seriously sweating? More importantly, was she seriously getting all worked up over a guy she's never formally met before?

From behind her hair she dared to take another peak at him but found another pair of eyes watching her. _Naruto._ She recalled. She gave him a sweet smile and he-wait what did he do? Did he blush? Besides that he grinned from ear to ear and gave her a big wave. She returned it with a half-effort wagging of her fingers.


	3. sakura kiss

Saskue & Naruto:

Saskue & Naruto:

"Hey guys. Did you see the new girl with the pink hair? Quite the number huh?" Neji nudged Saskue's elbow encouragingly. Everyone seemed to know a least something about that girl. She's 15, her favorite color is pink, she used to live a long ways away from here, shes single…typical stuff like that. It didn't interest Saskue all that much. But that doesn't mean that he hadn't shown curiosity in this beautiful stranger.

"Yeah! Her name is Sakura! I knocked her down earlier. And she was pretty nice!" Naruto exclaimed. Saskue and all the other guys took their turns thumping him upside the head. "Ooooow! What was THAT for guys?" he complained irritatingly.

"You knocked her down!" Saskue yelled mid-slap.

"Did you even help her up?!" Neji asked righteously.

"Uh yea-" Nartuo was interrupted.

"A prime goddess like her should be treated with the most respect and delicacy!" Rock Lee proclaimed with a clenched fist in the air.

"All of you are hormonal inferior beings..." Gaara sulked.

Naruto became panicky and added, "C'mon guys! I helped her up and introduced myself and we talked for a minute! She wasn't hurt or anything…at least I don't think" another round of thumps and slaps. Usually Naruto would hit them all back but he wasn't thinking about the guys; he was thinking about that girl. With the soft pink hair and wide emerald eyes………….her delicate pink lips, her flushed cheeks, her bell-of-a voice as she whispered "thanks". Saskue could also not stray from the memory of the pink haired cutie from English.

Sakura:

_Finally, the last period of the day and I don't even have to learn anything. _Sakura was so pleased that it was the end of day and now she only had to do whatever (the school apparently lets you do anything) during free period. So she opted to find a space, any space where she could be alone. She had been surrounded by Ino's whole posse the whole day so she needed to be able to collect her thoughts without being asked about herself every 2 seconds.

Finally she found a music room that seemed just deserted enough so satisfy her "being a temporary hermit" desire. In the room there was a piano, a few scatter folding chairs and music stands, and a desk. Sakura walked slowly looking around the room and taking everything in. She took her rightful place in the piano seat; it felt right. This is where she belonged. She began playing a familiar tune to her…Sakura Kiss. Her mother taught her to play the piano and would say that song was meant for her. Even though it was from a Tv show, Sakura couldn't help but feel the song really was specially created for her. It became her lullaby. The piano version of her lullaby was so much slower and better than the Tv version. It was perfect, soft, delicate, and beautiful. Just like Sakura's voice…

She opened her mouth and poured her soul out in song. She sang the words to Sakura Kiss so lovely that it was if all her stress just melted away.

_KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE  
MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE_

_I've noticed that I'm by your side all the time  
But is it really hate? Love? Is it a fantasy?_

_If I can see my feelings clearly  
Then even if I'm a lady, even if I'm a host, I don't mind_

_Everyone has different reasons  
For falling in love, but MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE_

_I want to meet you, who are kind, now; a sakura kiss- when our hearts pound, it's romantic love  
The present is even more important than the future; the beautiful spring love is a blossoming maiden's aesthetics_

_For example, I want to try looking for  
The still-unknown you of mine, but I'm scared_

_In denim, in frills, in casuals and Chinese  
Every time we meet, I change sevenfold and my resolution falters_

_The doors of love that open one after another  
Are fully loaded with thrills- it's definitely love_

_On days when we're busy and pass by each other, a sakura kiss- it's a love romantic enough to be painful  
Let's accept each other's weak spots, too; love that touches one another is invincible; the two of us who seem to bloom are the protagonists_

_Let's create memories that won't lose against the blindingly bright sky, now_

_It's definitely love_

_I want to meet you, who are kind, now; a sakura kiss- when our hearts pound, it's romantic love  
The present is even more important than the future; the beautiful spring love is a blossoming maiden's aesthetics, YEAH  
A blossoming maiden's aesthetics_

_KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE  
MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE_

Sakura sighed with enjoyment as she finished her song. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She pivoted her body and turned to stand up and leave. In the doorway stood two figures. Naurto and Saskue were staring at her with wide eyes and slack jaws. Sakura froze and heat rushed to her face.

"U-uh…" She couldn't speak. She was mortified. All three of the students were staring at one another with pink color on their cheeks. She couldn't stand it anymore, so Sakura got up and bolted out the room shoving past the two guys. Thank fully for her the end of the day bell rang. She didn't stop running until she reached her bedroom and flopped on her bed.

_Back in the Music room:_

"Saskue…did you?" Naruto was dumb struck.

"Yeah, I heard her. She was…well amazing" Saskue replyed.

"That doesn't even begin to cover it man…she's….Sakura is…."

Saskue finished,"…perfect." They both looked at one another shook their heads. Trying to act as if they weren't interested in the pink-haired new girl more than ever.


	4. a horrific dream and the day after

Breathing heavely, Sakura couldn't believe what she'd just done

Breathing heavely, Sakura couldn't believe what she'd just done. First of all, she'd let her guard down and sang freely. Which she had never done before: she can't even sing in the shower for fear that her mom will listen. Second of all she rudely pushed passed the only two handsome and nice (from what she could tell) guys that gave her the time of day at her new school.

"Uuuugh!" she moaned as she flipped over onto her stomach. She then realized that she was supposed to meet Ino so they could walk home together.

"Shit!" she said sitting up. _I wonder if I should go back….no I shouldn't…_ as she thought about the earlier occurrences she curled up in a ball and held a pillow over her face. She sighed and before she knew it she was drifting off...slower and slower, into deep sleep. It felt so good to be relaxed and dreaming…

_It was a sunny day and the birds were chirping with the sky so blue. Sakura strolled along in the park while people passed her with wide smiles. A little boy with a balloon let it go and Sakura climbed to the top of a tree to retrieve it. She kept walking through the park. She couldn't remember a time when she felt so content and pleased with her state of mind. As she emerged from park and onto the street she saw a crowd of people in a wide circle. She went to the people and tried to see what they were looking at. Sakura just then had noticed that it wasn't a sunny day anymore. It was dark and she had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she could only get to the center of the circle she knew she would alright. It was frantic now; the desire to see what it was that had held these people's attention. Then there it was; she was in the circle and at the center was a man lying on the ground is an unnatural position. Blood splattered everywhere and the mans bones twisted and broken. And that face; a familiar face. This man with his red hair and dead green eyes. His nose now broken; it didn't look like the same nose that Sakura had herself. _

"_D-dad! No!! D-daaad!" Sakura screamed in horror. All the people disappeared and everything around her went dark and blank. She felt it then too; the lightheadedness and the feeling that she was losing a grip on reality. She was fading still screaming her fathers name as if he would suddenly not be deformed and deceased._

"DAD!!" Sakura screeched. She was awake sitting up in her bed in a cold sweat. Tears were welling over her cheeks. Her body was heaving as unevenly as her breath. She reached under her pillow quickly and pulled out an old crumpled photo. It was taken 5 years ago when she was ten. It was a picture of her, her mother, and her father smiling happily in front their newly bought house. The house they lived at last, before her father was run over by a car. He was just getting money out of the ATM that was across from the park. Sakura had her own money but her father graciously insisted on buying her a tank top she'd been eyeing. She had her own money so why did he have to…why…… 

_The next day:_

Sakura trudged through the hallways trying to forget her run in with the boys and the awful visual dream she had last night. When Ino asked abviously inrritated why she stood her up she lied and said that she simply forgot. If she would've told Ino what happened then she would have wanted to hear Sakura sing and she could NOT chance it. She was secretly excited though when it got time to go to English class. She took her seat and cautiously searched for Saskue in the room. A few minutes later the high school idol strolled in gracefully. Iruka sensei still wasn't in the room yet so everyone was fairly calm and chatting it up with their neighbors. Sakura was a little lost in thought trying to remember if they had homework last night which she would be in trouble if they did seeing as she didn't pay attention at all in class.

"Uh hey, it's Sakura right?" a deep smooth voice asked. She jolted at the sound of this voice because she knew who it belonged to. Only a voice as beautiful and calm as that could belong to someone equally as beautiful and calm. She turned her head as coolly as she could but she was sure that to him it looked like a robot being cranked by a ratchet.

"Y-yes. It is." She said in a softly nervous voice. He seemed to be enjoying her anxiety but for some reason this didn't make her mad; it only made her blush more.

"Yeah so I couldn't help but notice yesterday that you use BIC pens..." he faded off with a smirk and reached into his pocket and held up a black pen, "so do I." he finished. Sakura lost it. At first the noise she made sounded like a balloon fizzing out but then she erupted in a belly rolling laugh fit. It was in mid-laugh that she realized that Saskue was laughing too; almost tearing up even.

"Ok I'm sorry but that was just about the most random thing I've ever heard.!" Sakura said after she and Saskue finally stopped laughing.

"Ha…yea I know but I needed to say something so I could talk to you-" Saskue stopped himself once he realized what he had said. Sakura tried to process what she just heard blushing the whole time. Saskue shook his head and blinked a couple of times like he couldn't believe it either. Then he asked in that dreamy voice of his, "So I was wondering if maybe us sometime..." he scractched his head thoughtfully, "you would want to hand out."

"Yes!" he barely got the whole sentence out before Sakura answered. He smiled triumphantly.

"Ok, so then how about Friday night we go somewhere. I'll swing by your house around 7" his words were rushed as he saw Iruka sensei walk in and begin his lesson. They both turned toward the front of the class. Sakura tried to pull the corners of her mouth down to hide her smile but it was to no avail. Little did she know that Saskue was having the same problem.


	5. second date?

Note: My dearest apologizes for screwing up Sasuke's name in the first 4 chapters. I hadn't even realized it until it was brought to my attention! Thanks for sticking with me guys! 33

Sakura giddily rushed out of English class so she could go tell her best friend Ino about what happened. In her head she was going over every single detail of what had just happened. The shine of his black hair, how the corner of his mouth turned up in a slightly awkward smile, the way he fiddled with his pencil in his left hand-wait, Sakura shook her head. She sounded like a boy absorbed fan girl. But then she thought of something, _Damn I didn't get a chance to tell him where I live!_ She kept pondering this thought and wondered if it had occurred to him too…

"Sakura-chaaan! Tell me everything!" Ino rushed up to her in a flurry of long blonde hair.

Sakura backed up a little, "U-uh about what Ino?" in her heart she knew what she wanted to gossip about but how would Ino know about that.

"About the coolest, most gorgeous guy in our school asking you out on a date duh!" Ino grabbed Sakura and towed her into the girls bathroom. The beautiful teen finished her thought, "Okay now spill Sakura." She looked outright giddy.

"Well, I just had English with him and he just kind of asked me out on a date for Friday night." Sakura stopped and then realized something, "Wait how the hell do you know about this?"

Ino chuckled and said, "Well he asked me about you yesterday after school so I told him that you wet the bed." Sakura's clenched her teeth and punched Ino's arm.

"Ow! Okay so I didn't exactly say that," Sakura exhaled with relief as Ino continued quickly, "but I did give him your number and address." As she finished she flinched for the punch but Sakura just smiled. _So THAT'S why he didn't ask. Yay._ As Sakura and Ino just stood there in the bathroom the bell rang.

"Crap! Talk to you later!" both girls quickly said to each other and rushed out of the bathroom in different directions.

In about 2 minutes Sakura plopped down in her seat in the back of the room of her reading class. To her surprise the teacher hadn't even arrived yet. So she sat back and thought once more about her date on Friday. She got all flustered and happy so she did a little happy dance and gave a squeal.

"Hey Sakura!" A boy's voice rang.

"Wha!!" it startled her and she felt a little embarrassed that someone had just seen that. She relaxed a little bit when she looked and saw that it was Naruto.

"Oh hi Naruto. Sorry you scared me. So what's up?" she smiled. Looking at Naruto just made her want to grin. He always seemed to have perma-happy plastered on his face.

"Ha! It's fine Sakura-chan. And I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime this weekend. I could show you all the hot spots to go to." He made a silly gesture when he said hot and made a sizzling sound. That made Sakura giggle.

"I was thinking that I could show you the library too because I noticed that when we bumped into each other you had a pretty big book so I thought that you MUST be into reading n what not! So how about Friday night?" Sakura almost lots track of her thoughts because Naruto could talk so much but the last sentence caught her. Her face fell and she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hated rejection.

"Um w-well you see Naruto. I kind of already have plans." Suddenly she felt like Hinata with no confidence or self-assurance.

"Oh really?! What kind of plans?!" the perma-happy still remained. Now Sakura felt even worse, but why was that? It didn't matter so she just sucked it up and spit it out.

"U-um, Sasuke asked me out on a date that night…" she looked up at Naruto. A shadow of hurt passed his face but in that instant it was gone.

"Well that's cool! S-Sasuke is a great guy! I hope you have fun!" Naruto started to head back to his seat but Sakura found herself catching his arm. That stutter was all she needed to feel sorry.

"Uh well hey maybe we can do it Saturday?" she said sounded too hopeful. She knew the answer once she saw that signature grin fly across his face.

"Yeah! Since you don't know where anything is yet just meet me at the school at 3!" Naruto almost yelled. Sakura nodded in agreement as the teacher walked in. Naruto scampered back to his seat and the pink haired teen examined her educator. She would've mistaken him for a student if he hadn't sat at the teacher's desk and was relatively taller than everyone else. He was young looking and very handsome also. Sakura smirked to herself as she thought that must have gotten him into trouble some time or another. With his spikey silver hair and lazy looking eyes he was reading a book. Sakura focused on the cover and it read, "Icha Icha Paradise". She shot her eyes down to her paper and blushed. _This teacher is a pervert!_ She screamed in her head.

Then the pervy teacher began to talk, "Class," he started in a serious voice, "I am late because I couldn't help but notice that a little old woman from down the street was having trouble counting her chickens. Then I tripped and stumbled onto the path of numbers and life." The class groaned in unison letting Sakura know that this wasn't the first time he had been late and tried to excuse it with a lame story such as the one he just threw out there. Sakura only had reading class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

"Now, what was that homework that I gave you yesterday…?" the mysteriously annoying teacher asked.

"Pick or write a poem to recite to the class, Kakashi-sensei." Sighed a boy with pale eyes. He was Neji; Sakura was sure of it.

Kakashi got a smug grin on his face and asked, "Yes that's right. Thank you. So who would like to go first, ok Rock Lee thank you for volunteering."

"But I didn't volunteer sensei." The bowl-cut boy stated.

"Just do it…" the said through obviously gritted teeth. Rock-Lee stood up abruptly saluted the teacher and walked to the front of the class. He stood tall and mighty but in his goofy clothes and funny looking face you couldn't help but laugh at him. Everyone broke out in little whispers and giggles but his expression never wavered. _So typically high school_ Sakura thought to herself. Rock Lee cleared his throat and everyone sat still listening.

Rock Lee looked up at us with a paper in his hand and read….

"My parents think I'm crazy….

But I have to disagree…..

They only think that you see…

Because they saw me hump a tree." And with that poem, for the first time in high school history, he managed to render the whole class completely silent. Rock Lee bowed and gave big thumbs up to Kakashi who had beads of sweat dripping from his temple.

Numerous awkward coughs and throat-clearings were then heard until Naruto stood up out of his chair and almost laughed while saying, "Holy crap! What the heck was that?!"

"It was a work of pure genius!" stated the poet with an upturned bottom lip. That silenced Naruto because now everyone realized what a true idiot is. Sensei said nothing the rest of the class. He just massaged his temples as he pointed to someone in the class which told them it was their turn. Sakura read a Shakespeare poem which none understood but she could listen to over and over again. Naruto wrote and read a Haiku about ramen (go figure), Neji read a poem by Robert Frost and so on. After class, Naruto walked Sakura to her locker. They both chose not to mention Rock Lee's "different" poem.

"So then I guess I'll see you Saturday Sakura chan!" Naruto said happily. After he finished Sakura noticed that behind Naruto, Sasuke was walking down the hall by himself. Sakura glanced back and forth between the two quickly. Naruto got a confused look on his face and as Sasuke spotted her he also saw Naruto and his smile faded quickly. _What's wrong with him? _Sakura wondered worriedly.

"U-uh yeah Naruto! I can't wait! Thanks for walking me to my locker, bye!" Sakura said quickly as she slammed her locker door shut and ran over to Sasuke. Wrinkles creased deeply into Naruto's forehead and he frowned. He stared after Sakura and Sasuke as they walked down the hallway _together._ Naruto sighed as he looked off to the side unhappily and trudged down the hallway _alone._

_Later that week:_

When Friday finally came Ino and Sakura walked home together. Ino tried her best to cram as much typical date knowledge in Sakura's head as possible. The whole time Sakura felt like she was going to puke she was so nervous. As they both went into Sakura's house, her mom had gingerbread cookies and milk waiting. Sakura's favorite.

"Thanks so much for having me over and for the snacks Mrs. Haruno." Ino thanked graciously. As Ino said Mrs it made Sakura flinch. Was she even considered a "Mrs" since her husband was dead? Sakura shook the bad thoughts out of her head as they finished eating and Ino tugged her up to her room. She had something else that should be on her mind anyway.

"Ok we have a while till he's supposed to show up. He's always on time so we have like 2 hours kay? Show me what you're thinking of wearing." Ino commanded. Sakura just flopped on the bed with a shocked yet blank look on her face.

"Uuuuh….."

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about this yet!" Ino screamed suddenly. All Sakura did was shrug because she really hadn't thought about it. She'd been too busy with feeling happy about him actually asking him and the whole Naruto thing too. Sakura finally came back to reality with her thoughts as Ino had her head buried in her drawers flinging clothes onto the bed. She had been buried alive by a torrent of jeans, skirts, and knit tops. By the time Sakura dug her way out Ino was already standing in front of her with a cute out fit in hand.

"Here!" Ino said as she shoved the clothes in her face. It was a black short-sleeved knit top with a white lacy cami underneath, then a jean mini skirt and black flip flops.

"Yay!" Sakura clapped giddily as she cooed at the outfit mastermind that was her best friend. It had been a while that she's actually been able to be a girly-girl with a friend.

After two hours of the plucking, pulling, and primping that Ino made her sit through, Sakura looked amazing. Her bangs were swept gracefully across her face and there was a little curl at the ends of her hair. Tears gathered in Sakura's eyes as they sat in front of the mirror with Ino holding her shoulders softly.

"T-thank you Ino. For everything. I mean I don't think I would've survived this week if you wouldn't have…"

"No worries Sakura. And no crying allowed. You'll ruin your makeup. She laughed softly. Then the doorbell rang and they both jumped but then realized what was going on. The two girls erupted in squeals and giggles. They ran downstairs but Ino hung out on the steps as Sakura walked to answer the door.

"Hey billboard brow!" Ino yelled after her. Sakura turned around quickly with a scowl on her face. Had Ino forgotten already everything that just happened? But when she saw that Ino was smiling big with watery eyes the doubt faded. Ino chucked down her purse and Sakura caught it flawlessly. Then she smirked.

"Thanks Ino-pig," Sakura commented back. "Be here when I get back. I'll text you when you should come over!" Sakura blew a quick kiss up at Ino and turned to open the door. She took a deep excited breath and swung the door open.

And there he stood. Looking, if possible, better than ever. She was wearing slightly baggy jeans with a blue button-up shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned and he wore a white tank top underneath of that. Sakura heard Ino gasped behind her and she smiled goofily.

Sasuke took her hand and led her out of the door smiling also. Sakura felt lighter than air from that point on. He was magnificent.


End file.
